A Gundam Crusade
by Vangran
Summary: When two machines appear on Heliopolis that shouldn't have existed, things take a turn for Ms. Kira Yamato. She's forced to pilot Strike at gunpoint. An Eighth Crusade is on the horizon, and this time, the Earth itself is the holy ground. F!Kira/Athrun
1. Part 1

A/N: Hi everyone, I have not forgotten about my other stories, I have just his a wall and can't seem to work around it at the moment. Don't worry, I will be back to them in no time!

And because I like fem stories: Fem Kira/Athrun T maybe M

Tolle as a coordinator cuz he's too cool to die defending racists

Kuzzy, Mir, Bashing, Ramius Bashing, Mu Bashing, Kuzzy semi-bashing (I actually like them, but it's just how the story worked out. Don't hate) Good Rau (Sort-of)

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A Gundam Crusade

Part 1

The artificial sun was shining brightly as Kira typed away furiously on her computer. She had been working non-stop since breakfast without a break and she looked like she would keep going.

She was wearing a black sleeveless dress shirt and brown slacks and black sneakers.

But her peace was interrupted as Mir and Tolle and Sai and Kuzzy showed up telling her that the Professor wanted to talk to her. So, getting in a car, they drove to the school's laboratory only to find the man out doing something and a guy in a trench coat and hat obscuring his face leaning against a wall. Apparently he had been waiting for the Professor to show him something.

Meanwhile, five Coordinators were making their way toward the mobile suits that were being built in the colony. Three of them were in transport vehicles being sent to the Archangel which was a prototype attack ship. With the help of a GINN they were able to easily overpower the pathetic security methods used by the Naturals.

The day had only just begun however, and the bloodshed to follow would leave scars on the minds.

Explosions could be heard across the colony as the recently docked warship exploded. Panic ensued, and people started rushing toward the escape pods.

Sai, Mir, Kuzzy, and Tolle all got outside but the ceiling collapsed before Kira could get away, covering the entrance.

Looking around, she saw the guy from before running down a hallway and rushed after him. She had just about caught up when an explosion rocked the compound, sending the two to the floor. The guys hat flew off, revealing a head of blond hair and a very NOT-masculine face.

"Yo-you're a girl," Kira stuttered.

The girl snorted, "Yeah, so are you. What did you think I was?"

Another explosion rocks the building. The blond leapt to her feet and raced down the hallway toward a door, which she promptly threw open. Kira ran after her. When she entered what appeared to be a hangar, she saw the blond standing by the railing.

Suddenly she started to cry, "Father, I knew it, you betrayed us all!"

She slumped to the floor, hands, still on the rails.

When Kira came over to the railing, she saw what she was talking about. Before her were three giant machines that looked like mobile suits, but nothing that she had ever seen before. In the reports there had talks about Zakus and GINNs and DINNS but these three looked nothing like them, in fact, the third one looked something akin to a templar from the medieval period of Anno Domini.

She looked around and saw a woman and some others who she assumed were mechanics talking and then the giant doors blew up, debris flying everywhere. Kira looked over at the blond girl and pulled her to her feet.

"Come on, we have to get to a shelter. "

They started running as fast as they could. The first one they came to was sealed shut as a blast had brought the ceiling down.

The second one was open however, and Kira had to forcibly push the girl into it, despite her protests as there was only one seat available. Running off, she tried to find another shelter but ended up back in the hangar, there was gunfire and the platform she was standing on gave way, throwing her off toward one of the three suits. She twisted in midair and somehow landed on her feet, although she quickly lost her balance and fell to her knees.

The woman from before was on top of the suit as well and appeared to have an injured shoulder.

A man in a red suit raised a gun toward the woman and Kira cried, "Look out!"

The woman rolled out of the way, lifted her pistol and fired, taking the red coat down.

Another red coat was rushing towards them gun blazing, and leapt up onto the suit. The woman was reloading. The reddie threw away his gun when it ran out of bullets and pulled out a knife. Kira was closer to him and she put up her arms in a weak attempt to shield herself. When the red coat got close enough, she was in for the surprise of her life as she recognized her childhood crush.

"A-athrun?"

Said boy was shocked, here, not five feet away, was his childhood friend, who he hadn't seen in years.

"K-kira?

The moment was ruined when the woman finished loading and started firing, forcing Athrun to leap backwards. The woman pulled Kira into the cockpit.

"ATHRUN!" She cried before the woman leapt in and closed the cockpit.

Athrun cursed and ran to the second suit. As he was getting into the cockpit, he noticed the other suit and frowned. _There wasn't any mention of another suit._

Starting up the Aegis, Athrun brought it to its feet and radioed the others, "Hey guys, we have a problem. There's a sixth suit."

"What!" Yzak cried, "But the report didn't say anything about that!"

"Apparently the Natural's outsmarted us. They got Rusty as well. And it appears they are holding a hostage inside the suit we do know about."

"Is it a Natural?"

"The hostage? No, she's a Coordinator."

Nicol sighed, "That's just great, now we another thing to worry about."

"What do you mean Nicol?" Dearka asked.

"Another suit just showed up on my sensors, and it's closing in fast."

"Shit! I can see it too. Come on guys, we have to get these suits back to the Vesalius."

With that the communication cut off and Yzak, Nicol, and Dearka left the colony.

Meanwhile Kira was pushed behind the seat and the woman mechanic started the suit up. The words Strike and Gundam appeared on the screen.

The suit slowly got to its feet and made its way out of the burning building.

A GINN saw the machine as it walked out and started beating the crap out of it, but because of the Phase-Shift armor they were rendered useless. Back in the hangar a very pissed off pilot stalked his way toward his suit as the building fell apart all around him. He got in and started it up, the panoramic view showing everything. The words Templar and Gundam appeared on the screen in front of him as he started up the suit and walked out the building, he noticed his partner trying to contact him.

Opening a channel, he said gruffly, "Ahmed is something the matter?"

Ahmed growled, "What have I told you about using my first name, _Jeremias_?"

Jeremias rolled his eyes, "Alright, _David_, what's going on?"

"ZAFT soldiers have claimed the three Gundams in the transports and escaped before I could stop them How're things at your end?"

"They got the red one, but the FA managed to get the general-purpose suit, at least, that's what I think happened as the GINN is attacking the thing. Pilot's not very good though."

David spat, "Just great, another thing to worry about."

"How's the Saracen holding?"

"She is doing beautifully, truly Allah blessed me when this suit was made," the Muslim said in what could be interpreted as a dreamy voice.

"The Templar is running green, so I say we leave this place and head over to the rendezvous. They aren't exactly the patient type when it comes to these things."

"You've got that right, the Strike should be well enough on its own."

With that the two suits leapt into the air and flew toward the nearest airlock.

Back with Kira, her kidnapper had managed to accidently hit a vital on the GINN, causing it to explode, however it used up all the Vulcans ammo to do it. The battle over, the woman steered the suit toward a building and had it kneel. She then opened the cockpit and forced Kira out at gunpoint.

On the ground, Kira was forced to watch as the woman bandaged her arm. Then the mechanic spoke.

"My name is Murrue Ramius. I am a Lt. with the Atlantic Federation and because you have seen this suit I can't let you go. Regulations require me to keep you in my sights at all times."

"What!" Kira cried, "But I don't even know what's going on!"

"Regardless, I can't let you go. Now, you are going to…"

She was cut off as a voice called out, "Kira!"

Whirling around, she saw Flay running towards her. The two hugged and started checking each other over for wounds.

But unfortunately, Ramius was not to be deterred, "This is all well and good, but you have to stay as well."

Kira whirled on the Lt., "I should think not! We are leaving to try and find a shelter. You have no right to keep us here."

Ramius narrowed her eyes, "Yes, I do. Civilian or not, this is a warzone, and as an officer I have duties to uphold and you are not going to keep me from them," She leveled her gun at Flay, "Now get in the suit, _Kira_, unless you want me to shoot your friend."

Kira was shaking, "W-why? I'm no pilot. I don't have any experience with that type of thing."

"Pilot or no, you will get in that cockpit. I saw the way you jumped down from balcony in the hangar and only a trained soldier, or a Coordinator, could have pulled it off. Now unless you want your friend to die you will pilot that suit. I have a tight schedule and I need everything loaded onto the Archangel before the colony goes."

Flay stared at Kira in shock, "You're a Coordinator? Why didn't you tell us?"

Kira bowed her head sadly, "I didn't want any trouble. I just want to live a normal life. Is that bad? I hate violence. And besides, I am a first-generation Coordinator so I have no part in this war."

Flay nodded in acknowledgement, although inwardly she was seething, _How dare she walk around all high and mighty, lording her intelligence over us! No wonder she always got what she wanted. And here she is, acting all humble and playing the pity card, well, she won't be getting any from me._

When Ramius merely motioned with the gun toward the Strike, Kira wearily moved toward it and went inside the cockpit. She then received instructions regarding weapons packs and where they were located. So off she went leaving her former (although she didn't know that) friend behind with the rude Lt. Ramius. She found the truck with the packs and picked up with little trouble, although she was hiccuping the entire time.

When she returned, she was placed it on the ground.

It was at this moment that Athrun reappeared in his Aegis along with a couple GINNs.

They looked around until they found the Strike.

"There it is," Miguel said smugly, "If this is anything like last time, this is going to be easy."

"She killed Al, remember?"

Miguel waved it off, "That was dumb luck. No Natural could hold against us in a mobile suit."

Sighing, Athrun dove toward the Strike Gundam standing on the ground.

With the Strike, Ramius wasted no time pointing her gun at Flay's head, "Fight or she dies. And take the Aile Strike Pack."

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Read and review! I want to know what you think.


	2. Part 2

Kira/Athrun

Tolle as a coordinator cuz he's too cool to die defending racists

Flay, Kuzzy, Mir, Sai Bashing, Ramius Bashing, Mu Bashing, (I actually like them [well, not Flay], but it's just how the story worked out. Don't hate) Good Rau (Sort-of)

I won't say the disclaimer again, if you really want to, go back to the first chapter and read it.

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A Gundam Crusade

Part 2

With a sob, Kira moved toward the truck and grabbed the anti-ship sword.

Above her, the GINNs and the Aegis noted how easily the suit moved. Athrun radioed his friends, "Hey guys, I think there is a new pilot."

Miguel grunted his assent. Meanwhile the second GINN pilot noticed something on the ground and zoomed in on it. He froze at the sight.

"Hey guys, look at the ground by the Strike. It looks like a woman holding a gun to a girl's head."

Athrun paled. Doing as asked, he sighed in relief that it wasn't Kira being held at gunpoint then froze as he recognized the woman holding the gun. His anger flared.

"He's forcing her to fight! That bitch!"

Miguel was worried for his friend, "Athrun, what are you talking about"

"That woman," he snarled, "Took a Coordinator hostage, and is now forcing her to fight her battle by threatening her friend."

The GINN pilots scowled, Natural's were despicable people.

"We'll do our best not to hurt her, but we have to defend ourselves. She will probably recognize your suit Athrun as she was there when you acquired it. We can only hope that she leaves her friend behind. I mean, the girl is just standing there, she doesn't even look afraid for her life."

"She doesn't have military training, she doesn't understand the concept of sacrifice."

Miguel looks at Athrun's suit through his monitor and sighed. It was painfully obvious that he cared for this girl, whoever she was, and it was breaking his heart that he would have to fight her. Fortunately if they were ever able to capture her she wouldn't get in trouble because she was blackmailed into doing what the bastards wanted. These monsters deserve no mercy. Especially if they are forcing a girl to fight their battles for them. Now, don't get him wrong, he loved girls, and they could up a hell of a fight, but there are quite a fair few that abhor such actions and prefer the quiet life. And this girl seemed to be one of the latter ones.

The three pilots took a deep breath and dove in.

Kira saw the suits zooming in on her and couldn't help the shudders that wracked her body. She hated fighting, and yet here she was in a mobile suit of all things and her friend was probably in the red suit she had seen in the hanger. She really hoped he wasn't. She couldn't bear to fight her childhood friend in order to protect her new one. Trying to calm herself, she leapt into the and activated the boosters, sending the Strike higher.

Pulling back the sword she swung it hard and fast at the first suit, which only barely avoided it.

"Damn! This girl of yours is something else, Athrun. I thought you said she didn't have any training?"

Athrun narrowed his eyes, "She didn't. She has been here the entire time. There is no way she could have gotten any."

"If you say so," Miguel grunted as he dodged another blow. It was after the third swing that it became obvious that she was telegraphing her attacks before she made them to give them a chance to dodge them. Her heart really wasn't in this.

While they were fighting, a hole was blown open from inside the colony and a giant white ship emerged.

Ramius was most pleased with the events unfolding before her. She was glad the coordinator bitch was so easy to manipulate. Minister Allster's daughter was most agreeable and would be rewarded for her help in securing the Strike. Now all they had to do was destroy the enemy suits, get it on the ship and they were home free.

Unfortunately for Murrue, she wasn't a mobile suit pilot, or had any experience with them; otherwise she would have seen her pawn wasn't so willing.

Kira was panicking. She was fighting her best friend and his friends and she couldn't stop or else Flay would get hurt. Why can't I live an easy life? Ever since mom and dad abandoned me I have had to fend for myself and now I am stuck in the middle of a war and have to fight my best friend! Is it too much to ask for a simple life?

Just then, Nicol snuck up behind her after getting the go-ahead from Commander Creuset. He was aware of the situation thanks to Athrun and the others and concluded that since the pilot wasn't actually a willing combatant, it would be easier to capture the suit with minimal damage on their side.

So, sneaking up behind her using his mirage colloid system, he was able to strike (no pun intended) the Strike in such a way that it was disabled. Seeing the suit shutting down, Athrun and Miguel rushed over with Athrun and Nicol picking it up and Miguel holding guard as they flew back to the Vesalius. This all happened within five minutes.

With no mobile suit and no way to use the weapons, nor proper knowledge, Murrue Ramius was forced to watch as the last "secret" weapon was carried away by ZAFT.

"Dammit!" she yelled as she punched the truck in frustration and then winced as she massaged her fist. Meanwhile, Flay, Sai, Kuzzy, Mir, and Tolle are all standing around talking about what they had just witnessed.

Tolle was hesitant to go along with what they were saying, as he himself was a first-generation coordinator, although that fact had been well hidden as he tended to avoid subjects that would draw attention to him, instead taking up hobbies like mechanics, bike riding, and reading. A bit different from each other, but they suited him just fine.

He just kept nodding and saying "yeah", "of course", and "absolutely". He couldn't believe that he was actually dating Miriallia Haw and not realized she was such a racist. As soon as he got the chance, he got away from them, and made his way to an escape pod that was out of the way, out in the "Coordinator District" as some people like to call it. He himself had an apartment just at the edge, which is why he guessed that Mir never wanted to come over.

So, making his way to the pod, he sighed in relief that there was still room for another person. The coordinators weren't as stingy about space as the naturals were, thankfully. And so, it was with that thought that he got inside and buckled up and waited to be ejected into space.

He didn't have to wait long, as shortly after he entered the pod, the Archangel burst out of the hangar it had been trapped in along with Rau Le Creuset and Mu La Flaga, whose ensuing fight hit the central support pillar which broke apart and then Heliopolis was no more.

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Please review and tell me what you think! I won't know what I'm doing right or wrong if you don't tell me. ^_^


	3. Part 3

Kira/Athrun

Flay, Kuzzy, Mir, Sai Bashing, Ramius Bashing, (maybe) Mu Bashing, (I actually like them [well, not Flay], but it's just how the story worked out. Don't hate ^_^) Good Rau (Sort-of)

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A Gundam Crusade Part 3

As soon as the mobile suits cleared the wreckage of Heliopolis, they went straight to the Vesalius. Setting down in the hangar, they gently lowered the Strike onto the floor. The reason for this is simple: when Nicol knocked the Strike out of commission, it also caused the pilot to hit her head on the controls in front of her and knocked her out as well. The reason they knew this was also simple, or at least to them it was: Nicol had hacked into the communication device and looked inside to check on the pilot after getting no response and saw her sitting their unconscious.

With the Strike secured, Commander Creuset had no more reason to sortie with Commander La Flaga and so managed to escape quite easily as the Hawk of Endymion had to attend to the Archangel.

Landing in the hangar, he got out after getting permission to board and went up to the bridge where Ensign Natarle Badgiruel and Ramius were waiting.

"So what happened to the G-weapons? I noticed that we don't have any in the hangar," he asked curiously.

Ramius and Natarle exchanged glances. "Well," Murrue started, "We did have one, but ZAFT managed to capture it."

His gaze shifted from Murrue to Natarle and his eyes asked the question his mouth did not.

Ramius cleared her throat. "Well, the thing is, the pilot we were using was a Coordinator and had to be coerced to fight for us."

He raised an eyebrow, "Coerced? You do realize that this is a coordinator we're talking about here. What could you possibly have that could drive her to fight against her own?"

A smirk appeared on the new captain's lips.

Mu's eyes narrowed, "What did you do?"

She gave him a smug look, "Why, I just acquired the help of her "friends" to help move things along. It was all very easy once it came to light that she was a coordinator. After all, they can't be trusted."

Mu gave her a disdainful look, "You know, there's a reason that this war started," she looked up at him with fluttering eyelids, his scowl deepened, "And it's because of people like you, with your prejudices and malcontent. You know what? I think I'll take my chances with ZAFT, at least they're honest about what they're fighting for."

And with that, he went back to his Mobile Armor and left the Archangel behind.

As it happened, Miguel had been patrolling the area and came across the truck filled with the Strike packs that the EA had left behind because they no longer had the suit and grabbed it. As he was heading back to the Vesalius, he ran across Mu, who quickly hailed him and told him of his intent. Miguel, not seeing any other option, decided to contact the Commander and see what he thought of the situation.

Upon relay, Rau le Creuset gave permission for Mu to come aboard, but that he would be under heavy surveillance.

Mu, knowing that he was a, soon-to-be-ex-Alliance soldier, understood where they were coming from and had no problem with the security measures.

Upon landing, a group of five soldiers was waiting for him and escorted him to his cell where he would be kept until they could deal with him, seeing as they didn't exactly have the time while dealing with the reports of two mysterious suits and the now-captured Strike.

With the fifth Gundam now secured, the Vesalius was able to leave, not concerned with the Legged Ship as the Archangel was being called, and not caring for its name, seeing as they intended to destroy it sooner or later and since it only had ship armaments it would be a simple matter to crush the thing.

In the infirmary, Athrun was watching with baited breath as doctor operated on Kira, not knowing exactly how to deal with having his best friend being hurt and forced to fight her own kind. He knew she hated the entire idea of war, and, while he wasn't too thrilled about it himself, was willing to put everything on the line if it meant those he cared about were safe.

She looked so vulnerable, lying there on the bed with her head wrapped in gauze and her left arm wrapped in bandages. It appeared that the Natural was stronger than she looked, as she had grabbed her hard enough to leave a very big bruise and her getting banged around in the cockpit of the Gundam didn't help either. Also the fact that she had no training made the whole thing a giant mess.

Another fact that no one else knew except Rau was that Kira was in fact the daughter of Professor Hibiki, a man who created Coordinators and strived to create the Ultimate Coordinator by using his own child, and it seemed he succeeded, not that he would let anyone know that. He couldn't let his plans be ruined when they were still in their infancy.

Scheming aside, he also had to contend with the fact that Athrun had a soft spot for the girl, and there was no way that he would allow her to fight again. Personally, he didn't want her to either, as with her superior skill sets she could ruin everything. He wasn't out to destroy the world, no, that was for people with no ambition. If the world's destroyed, what could you do? Answer: nothing, there would be nothing to do as it isn't fun to play chess without a living partner; CPU's are only good opponents for so long.

No, what he was aiming for was the destruction of that beam generator codenamed GENESIS. If some Coordinators had to die along the way than so be it, but that thing was grating on his nerves. Sure, construction of the thing was still under way, but once completed, it would make things so much more difficult if fired as it would make finding someone like Bobby Fisher impossible. It didn't matter that Commander Zala hadn't told him about it yet, what did was that it had to be destroyed and any and all plans to mass-produce it or even reproduce it if the first one fails were destroyed.

With those thoughts done for the moment, Commander Creuset looked down at his long-time rival Mu la Flaga. He honestly hadn't anticipated this turn of events, not that it would change his plans, just make things easier not to have to fight someone the whole way who knew where he was all the time and what actions he was making. He himself was still unsure how the bond came to be, but guessed it had something to do with his donor, Al Da Flaga.

Sitting down across from the Hawk of Endymion, Rau couldn't help but notice that the man was relaxed, he didn't seem to have a tense bone in his body as he was surrounded by ZAFT soldiers.

"So," he began slowly, "What reason can you give for deserting your military that doesn't make you look like a spy they are trying to plant, which would be a rather poor attempt if it were the case."

Mu smiled, "How about this," *ahem* "'I found that my side was attacking all without discretion and that there were more Natural casualties than Coordinator in battles between the two governments. And that when confronted with the details they only responded that they were Sympathizers and deserved their fate.' All of which is true, by the way. Also I came to the conclusion that since those who started the war had rather poor excuses for the whole debacle, the moment for me to leave became pressing as I had no way to get out from under their thumb except through space battles, and you know what happened next."

Creuset nodded, accepting the answer and motioning for the recording to stop; as there was no way Mu was going to be gifted enough with words to repeat the performance again. His catchphrase was about all he had going for him.

With the official reason out of the way, Rau was able to get to the crux of the matter.

"So, you are here for her sake or your own?"

Mu shrugged, "Maybe I am, maybe I'm not, but what I _can_ tell you is that I am not here for them."

"And that is all I needed to hear." He motioned for the guards to release him, "These men will escort you to your room for the duration of your time onboard this ship. And do try and stay out of trouble?"

Giving him a grin that made him fear for the safety of his crew, Mu took his leave. And with that marked the beginning of the end for the Earth Alliance.

When the ships were only a couple days away from the Plants, Kira woke up, and, upon looking around, saw Athrun with his head resting on the bed fast asleep. Her eyes softened at the sight. She lifted her hand and gently ran her fingers through his hair, reveling in the feel of it for the first time in years. She had always been jealous of how soft his hair was as compared to hers.

At the feeling of fingers in his hair, Athrun slowly opened his eyes, blinking them in a cute fashion that elicited a giggle from Kira in the process. At the sound of her voice, Athrun bolted from his seat and flashed to the head of the bed, checking her over to see if there were any lingering injuries.

She laughed again, and Athrun couldn't stop the thought that it sounded like music to his ears, "I'm fine, Athrun, really! Just a little sore from sleeping but I'm sure it'll go away in a little bit. I've missed you."

The last part was said in a whisper but he heard it anyway, and, with a small smile, pulled her into a hug and said, "I missed you too."

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So what do you think? I am sorry it took so long, I kept trying to think up ways to drag out the dialogue and small scenes but came up with nothing. Next chapter is sure to be more exciting, or at least I will try to make it so. Thanks for reading. ^_^


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